Breaking news

Govt to review hospital bed closures

The Government is reviewing bed closures across the mental health system.

ABC News

SA Health will review the number of mental health beds after complaints a shortage is causing long waits for patients in emergency departments.

The State Government withdrew funding for four of the 38 mental health beds at the Margaret Tobin Centre at Flinders in January.

The decision prompted criticism from the nurses' union, who demanded the beds be immediately reopened.

In June last year, the Industrial Relations Commission allowed the closure of 18 mental health beds at Flinders Medical Centre and Glenside to go ahead despite opposition from health unions, including the Salaried Medical Officers Association.

Earlier this month, mental health advocates said the loss of beds had led to an increase in the number of patients being physically restrained in emergency wards.

"There's been a number of cases recently where people with mental health issues have been kept in emergency departments for a number of days," he said.

"That's certainly not something I'm satisfied with at all.

"What I want to do is make sure we've got that balance right and that we have sufficient acute capacity, particularly for people who are presenting in emergency departments with very serious mental health issues.

"To make sure that they're not being kept in those emergency departments any longer than is absolutely necessary."

Mr Snelling says he wants SA Health to report back to him within months.

"I want advice on this quickly so if policies do need to be changed those can be implemented as quickly as possible," he said.

'Better outcome'

Doctors, nurses and mental health advocates have welcomed the review.

Maurice Corcoran from the Community Visitors Scheme, which inspects mental health treatment centres, says some patients are being kept in emergency wards for almost a week.

"There are all too many people with a mental health condition who are stuck in an emergency department for three, four, five and sometimes six days waiting to get a bed in an acute mental health unit," he said.

"People who may have schizophrenia, they may have extreme depression, they may be people just presenting to the emergency departments who are very unwell.

"There'll be a lot of families and a lot of people who use mental health services who'll be very pleased to hear that this review is taking place."

The Australian Medical Association's state president, Dr Peter Sharley, says the review is urgently needed.

"We have been asking for some time, for particularly the Margaret Tobin beds to be opened, it is actually more cost-effective to have those beds opened than look after many people in the emergency departments," he said.

Elizabeth Dabars from the Nursing and Midwifery Association agrees.

"The cost of using emergency department beds is simply wasteful and a cost-effective and better outcome for patients can be achieved by having specific mental health beds open and available," she said.

Phil Palmer from the ambulance union says the Government should have foreseen the effect bed closures would have.

"Certainly some of the worst ramping events were actually caused by a bank-up of mental health patients in [the emergency department] that could have been elsewhere in sub-acute beds," he said.

"The closure of the beds was a very bad to decision, it was predicted to be bad by us and other unions at the time and it's proven to be so."

Mr Snelling says the Government has spent $300 million on the Stepping Up program, which has seen acute beds closed and others opened in community-based facilities.

In October last year, former health minister John Hill announced plans to cut 350 jobs and close 114 beds across the health system.